Thank you to the much-missed Leonard Cohen for posthumously providing me from one of his songs, the title of this blogpost.

In his lyrics, Leonard has usually been right-on-target. He tells it like it is. In this song, he does it again. After all, it’s pretty dark out there already. Much of the world is and will-be suffering from the latest products of climate change: stifling air, severe storms, massive floods, millions of dead animals and burning forests. Yet, we’ve already received warning from scientists about all that, and they continue to caution that we are nearing the point of no return—it is an existential threat. Is anybody listening as the world darkens? ( FYI, the leading climate denier, who remains responsible for so many climate-destructive actions during his administration, is Donald Trump. He remains proud of what he has already done and promises us more.)

Meanwhile, the United States continues in a rapidly escalating move towards fascism and its political offshoot, authoritarianism. Trump has so many indictments against him, it is hard to keep count. His minions ignore his traitorous and criminal behavior and await his “Second Coming.” The former President is also a pathological liar, mafia-like leader of a network of individuals prepared to do his bidding regardless of how heinous and subversive the requests are. (Oh, I almost forgot his dinners with Neo-Nazis).

In cities throughout the country, violence rules as some on the left plead for “understanding” in the midst of this “bad behavior.” Meanwhile, politicians attempt to dictate to women how to manage their own bodies, and legalize what America’s children can and cannot read, watch, and listen to.

How do we bring in enough light to provide relief? First, whatever it takes to neutralize the MAGA Republicans (especially their leaders), should be attempted. Their ideas are out there and most definitely debatable. But, too many people don’t want to listen; the truth scares them as they begin to realize that, in most cases, they are the cause of their own despair. Instead, Americans are quick to declare that “people of color,” Jews, Muslims, and on-and-on, are the sources of their discontent. Of course, their own ignorance and hatred blinds them to reality.

If there remains any hope of moving beyond these loathsome individuals and blunting the cancers they spread into society, it can only come with better education. Unfortunately, our organized attempts to teach the truth are suffering their own attrition. Student test scores have declined dramatically, the best teachers are leaving the profession, and public education is severely underfunded. Yet, for the most part, as this crisis worsens, Americans bemoan and procrastinate and leave it for others to solve the problem. Consequently, what we have is proliferating ignorance and stupidity amongst growing segments of the population. Guns, instead of the proverbial apple are what students bring to the nation’s classrooms. Is it any wonder why conspiracy theories dominate the internet and mass media? Easy answers are what we seek as we attempt to escape from the freedom of having to decide on our own what to believe.

As the 2024 political season approaches, conditions should dictate a return to facts and reality. Educational standards must be revised so that courses of relevance to student lives are mandated (e.g. history, literature, languages, sociology and politics), to name a few. We can again feature less pertinent subjects as crises abate. We cannot survive in widespread ignorance and fallacy as inter-ethnic and inter-religious hatred prosper along with the chaos and violence they generate. Remember, it really is GETTING DARKER. Fixing the country’s educational system(s) is a major path to LETTING IN THE LIGHT. The existential threat is amongst us and, to paraphrase Bruce Springsteen, the “Darkness (is) on the Edge of Town.”